St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1887-08-28
A WONDERFUL WORK.
A Noted Critic Pays a Visit
to the Home Of Igna-
thus Donnelly,
And Investigates His Theory
Regarding the Shake
spearian Plays,
With the Result That He Bows
Down Before the Sage
Of Nininger,
And Declares That He is Not
a Crank, but a Liter
ary Disooverer.

New YORK, Aug 27.-The World to-
morrow will contain very elaborate
exposition of Ignatius Donnelly's at
tempt to dethrone Shakespeare and
award the honors of the authorship of
the so-called Shakespeare plays to Lord
Bacon The article is written by Prof.
Thomas Davidson, "a well-knOwn scholar,
philosopher and critic, whose opinion as
to Mr.. Donnelly'S work cannot fail to
carry great weight. Mr.. Davidson has
recently paid Mr. Donnelly visit at his
home at Hastings, Minn., examined the
manuscript of his forthcoming work,
the Great CryptOgram, had the main
features of the cypher explained
to him and obtained permission to
report. Before examining Mr.. DOnnelly's
work, Mr.. Davidson was an entire
skeptic in regard to the Bacon theory,
but he now admits that he is very much
shaken in his belief that the plays were
written by Shakespeare, and declares
that if they had come down to us with
out any authors name attached they
would have been unhesitatingly attrib-
uted to Bacon. He says he reached this
conviction altogether apart from the
the cipher. The article gives brief
summary of the results reached in Mr..
DODnelly's book, which is to be pub
lished about the 1St of December by the
firm of r. S. Peale & Co., of Chicago.
The book is
DIVIDED INTO TWO PARTS,
all argument and demonstration. The
former collects, arranges and sums up
all the arguments that have been put
forward in the last thirty years in favor
of the BacOnian theory, and adds a
large number to them. The author first
endeavors to show that the education
and character of William Shakespeare
were such that it is even ridiculous to
imagine that he could have written
plays which are distilled from all the
wisdom and learning of the world. He
shows that his education must have been
extremely meagre, while that of the
author of the plays was broad and deep.
He emphasizes the fact that we have no
record of any study on the part of
Shakespeare. His account of Shakes
peare's character will certainly be a
surprise to most readers. He shows
him TO have been stepped in almost
every kind of vice, to have been for
nicator, an adulterer, a uSurer, an OPP
preSSOr of the poor, drunk
ard, a systematic liar and fOrger
of pedigrees, dying in the
prime of life from the results a three
days drunken spree. He next shows
that we have no record thatShakespeare
ever owned library or even a book, and
that not single scrap of manuscript of
his has come down to us, not even let
ter to any OF the numerous men with
whom he is known to have been ac-
quainted: nay, more, that there is eX-
tant no letter addressed to him except
one asking for loan of money. Mr..
DOnnelly next proves very clearly that
while the author of the plays was an ac-
cOmpliShed lawyer. there is nothing to
show that Shakespeare ever opened a
law book or was inside lawyers office,
except on uSuriOuS questions. Having
demonstrated to his own satisfaction that
the author of the plays was not Shakes
peare. Mr.. Donnelly proceeds to prove
that he was Bacon. After adducing ev-
idence to show that
BACON WAS A POET.
and the author of the plays a profound
and learned philosopher, he treats of the
of the plays. and here he
brings out some most tell-tale facts.
While neither StratfOrd (where Shakes
peare was bOrn) nor Avon is ever once
mentioned in the plays, st. Albans, the
home of Bacon, is mentioned twenty
three time. He next shows that the
politics and religion of the writer of the
plays are identical with Bacon's politics
and religions, and that what Bacon de-
clared to be his great life purpose Is
fully eXemplified in the plays. A chap
ter is devoted TO BacOn'S reasons for
and here comes out some
startling facts. 1t appears not only that
Bacon wrote works which he never pub
licly acknowledged, but that he is adj
dressed by one of his friends as the
greatest wit in England, though not
known as such by his own name.
Among the reasons for con-
cealment Mr.. Donnelly puts the
political tendency of some
Of the plays, which was to
encourage treason. The first part of
the work closes with long list of par
allelisms between Bacon's acknOwl- !
edged works and the Shakespearian
expressions, opinions, |
quotations. studies, errors, use of un- /
usual words, character, style. These |
parallelisms will occupy over seventy /
closely printed pages. The result of /
the whole argument, according to Mr.. |
Davidson, is to leave upon the mind
strong impression that, if Bacon was
not the sole author of the plays. he had,
1T least. principal hand in them. sup
plying the scholarship, the art and the
After the argument max
ng the authorship of Bacon probable,
comes the Demonstration that is the
.ypher narrative, which has already
aroused so much interest in the public
mind. The article in the World tells
low Mr.. Donnelly came to look for a
:ypher, and the labor by which he
inally found it (as he believes. The
story is
FULL OF INTEREST.
AS to the cypher itself, Mr. Davidson
lOeS not claim to be in a position to en-
irely satisfy the public, not having re-
'eiyed from Mr.. Donnelly the ultimate
Ormula of it. He does, however, eX-
,reSs his strong conviction that Mr..
)0nntlly is neither a fraud nor
crank" To clear away any feelings of
his sort On the part of the public he
'ives brief account of Mr.. Donnelly's
areer. and description of his simple
lome life in Minnesota. 1t seems that
dr. Donnelly is quiet, genial, country
owing. StudiOus man, devoted to thought
md fond of good joke. The picture
Irawn of his life on the Mississippi
'luff is charming. 1t being certain that
1r. Donnelly is not fraud, and not
likely, his character and intelligence
'eing taken into account, to be self
eceiyed. Mr.. Davidson hardly sees how
he conclusion that the cvnhar is a